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An urgent vaccination drive is needed to ward off a growing wave of measles outbreaks, health chiefs said last night.
Declaring an official ‘national incident’, the UK Health Security Agency warned that too few youngsters were protected against the potentially deadly virus.
Jenny Harries, the agency’s chief executive, urged parents to check whether their children had had the measles, mumps and rubella jab and said the UK was on a ‘trajectory for everything getting much worse’.
It is a far cry from 2016, when Britain was declared measles-free by the World Health Organisation.
The disease, which causes flu-like symptoms and a nasty rash, proves fatal in roughly one in every 5,000 cases.
Last year 84.5 per cent of youngsters in England had received both MMR doses by the time they were five (stock image)
The disease, which causes flu-like symptoms and a nasty rash, proves fatal in roughly one in every 5,000 cases (stock image)
Vaccination rates have fallen across the country with London and the West Midlands among the worst regions.
The latter has had more than 300 confirmed and probable cases since October 1. Most victims were under-tens.
The declaration of a national incident signifies a growing public health risk and enables the agency to focus work in specific locations.
Dame Jenny told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the vaccination programme was ‘clearly not’ at the right level.
The professor added: ‘We had established measles elimination status in the UK, but in fact our vaccination rates now have dropped on average to about only 85 per cent of children arriving at school having had the two MMR doses.
‘In the West Midlands, that’s in some areas down to 81 per cent. If we go down to the Surrey Heartlands integrated care board area, that’s just over 70 per cent.
‘So we are well under the recommended coverage for MMR vaccination that the World Health Organisation recommends.
‘We want it to be 95 per cent coverage. We need a call to action right across the country.
‘Colleagues across the West Midlands have worked tirelessly to try to control the outbreak, but with vaccine uptake in some communities so low, there is now a very real risk of seeing the virus spread in other towns and cities.’
Last year 84.5 per cent of youngsters in England had received both MMR doses by the time they were five – the lowest rate since 2010/11 – and 92.5 per cent had received at least one dose.
Vaccination rates have fallen across the country with London and the West Midlands among the worst regions (stock image)
Jenny Harries, (pictured) the agency’s chief executive, urged parents to check whether their children had had the measles, mumps and rubella jab
Experts attribute the fall in uptake to anti-vax sentiment, pandemic disruption and a discredited 1998 study suggesting a link between the MMR jab and autism.
Dame Jenny said some Muslim communities had shunned the MMR vaccine because it contains ingredients derived from pork – but she stressed vegan versions were available.
She added: ‘It’s quite common with vaccination programmes that when the risk is perceived to have gone away, then the concern to get vaccinated may drop off and so one of the reasons for flagging this is to remind people that cases are still out there. This is a serious illness.’
The dire consequences of measles were last night highlighted by Gemma Larkman-Jones, whose six-year-old son Samuel died from a brain inflammation caused by measles in 2019.
Sharing her story to encourage parents to vaccinate more, she said: ‘I honestly do believe that people just think that measles, like chickenpox, is part of being a child and it’s so not.
Experts attribute the fall in uptake to anti-vax sentiment, pandemic disruption and a discredited 1998 study suggesting a link between the MMR jab and autism (stock image)
NHS England has issued healthcare workers with infection control guidance on measles for the first time. PIctured, a photo of the Measles virus
‘Samuel didn’t need to die and that’s the guilt I carry every day with me.’
Health Secretary Victoria Atkins said rising measles cases will be a ’cause of concern for many’ and stressed that unvaccinated children were at risk of serious illness.
But she added: ‘The good news is the MMR vaccine offers extremely high protection against this nasty virus, as well as mumps and rubella.
‘The vaccine is completely safe. It will boost immunity and stamp out this disease once and for all.
‘It will also mean children can go back to doing what they should be doing, playing with friends, spending time with family and going to school.
If you are not sure if your child has been fully vaccinated, you can check their little red book or call your GP surgery.’
NHS England has issued healthcare workers with infection control guidance on measles for the first time.
It says patients should be isolated on arrival at a GP surgery and appointments should be arranged to reduce waiting times in reception areas.
In hospitals, suspected measles patients should also be put in a separate area – ideally a single room away from others.
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